Wastewater Treatment Methods

Water is free. It is almost anywhere. The earth is made up of approximately 70% of water. People depended so much on water for daily existence just like food. Some household chores are not accomplished without water. When water is wasted can it still be reused?

Wastewater can still be reused through a process that is called wastewater treatment. There are various kinds of wastewater treatment methods available and still being practiced today. The wastewater treatment methods eliminate the foul odor by killing the algae or bacteria that caused it. They also enhance the taste by adding chemicals or through another process. Furthermore they also remove the particles through filtration. Wastewater treatment methods vary in many ways in cleaning the water and making it safe and ready for use again.

Filtration

This wastewater treatment method is way of removing solid particles from the water by letting the water pass through a permeable membrane. The filter used act as a sieve capturing only the particles and separate them from the water. There are different types of filters that can be used in filtration. Simple filters like fine nets can also be used in filtering small bits of particles, however for those micro thief particles an advanced filter system is utilized.

Filters have their own lifespan. After a prolonged exposures to filtration, the sediments that has been accumulated into the filter, thus making the speed of the flow of water slow. To get rid of the accumulated sediments the filters are washed through backwashing, by reversing the filter that connects to the water source, thus dislodging the accumulated particles. If the filter is no longer working satisfactorily it is better to replace it.

Aeration

This is one of the few wastewater treatment methods that is mostly used in industries. Aeration as the implies is to bring air to water, or to oxygenate the water. This process is done to eliminate foul-odor –causing chemicals such as ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide. Aeration has many different types.

Diffused aeration is producing bubbles with water while spray aeration is carried out through spraying water through air. Multiple aeration is letting water pass trough different conduits before it mixes with air, while cascade aeration is done like making a mini waterfalls where water cascades passing several layers. The last type is the air stripping which is a mixture of two different types of aeration, the multiple and the cascade methods.

On-site wetlands

Many cities and municipalities in the U.S. and perhaps several countries abroad have made used of wetlands in treating wastewater. On-site wetlands is one of the widely used wastewater treatment methods because it proven to be environmentally friendly thus keeping the ecological balance.

This wastewater treatment can make use of existing wetlands or artificial wetlands. Wetlands serve as filtering agent by the use of water plants and rocks, which separate the solid particles from the surface water. They also eliminate undesirable odor through a biological process, wherein the bacteria that cause the foul smell are broken down.

Heavy industries have their own methods of treating their wastewater before the water is released to waterways. Households have their own methods too, with the same aim of keeping the water reusable in the future.